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March 13, 2010
Will passing Obamacare jolt us into reality?
Leslie S. Lebl
If the Democrats succeed in passing ObamaCare next week, they could indeed usher in a new era - but not the one they want.
The conventional wisdom (which President Obama and I apparently share) is that any entitlement bill, no matter how bad, will remain on the books once it's passed.
But we've never had an entitlement bill opposed by four-fifths of the electorate, rammed through on a partisan vote that requires a highly dubious parliamentary maneuver. And one that will add trillions to the public sector deficits at a time when people are already worried about government spending.
So what if it passed, and the Democrats hemorrhaged seats next November - and the bill were subsequently repealed? This would indeed be the dawn of a new era, and one with profound implications for subsequent entitlement reform.
This is a long shot and, like 81% of the public, I fervently hope ObamaCare either fades away or goes down to defeat. But if it passes, maybe the truly appalling dimensions of this mistake will jolt us into true systemic reforms.
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